What price or priority principles?

This week we saw the government delivery of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Irrespective of political rights or wrongs, or your own personal perceptions of the best way to combat the national debt, there is still a mass of evidence to support why it had to be done in the first place. The criminal waste in the public purse continues and decisions on public spending is still being devised by the turkeys who don’t vote for Christmas!

So now (not before time), the heat has been turned up under the arse of senior executives in the public sector. I have to say it gives me great pleasure knowing, Local Authority and Emergency ServicesCEOs up and down the country, are finally squirming in the plush leather upholstery of their HQ throne rooms. The question that remains though is; how will they actually react?

Several have already buried their previous rhetoric and methodology in favour of towing the line. A thought processes born out of simple self-preservation I’ll be bound. That said, it’s still highly unlikely that very many will actually do the ‘right’ thing(s). Strange however that many CEOs are now announcing ‘new collaborative working practices’ with neighbouring authorities and agencies. Why is it not so long ago, we were being told the measures were unworkable? They were consistently dismissed out of hand yet now, the exact same people who said they were rubbish, are actually extolling their virtue!

North Yorkshire County Council have recently lined the pockets of business consultants Price Waterhouse Cooper to the tune of £95,000.00 with tax payer’s money. The reason being they needed an answer to the pressing question; “where should we make cuts?” Interesting the same body has decided to continue paying out £400,000.00pa more of the tax payer’s money on the production of their self-indulgent newspaper. As they continue to blow ‘expensive’ sunshine up the public arse you have to ask; why aren’t these highly paid executives capable of making the decisions they are paid to make?

The local Chief Constable has said “up to 300 posts could be lost at North Yorkshire Police” but to mitigate, he and his deputy have suddenly and graciously declined their bonus payments. Are we expected to be ‘eternally grateful’ at their ‘kind gesture’? I’m sure they probably think so however, judging by the public feedback to the media article it would appear ‘we’ aren’t. At least it’s a move in the right direction I suppose.

Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Service are predicting cuts that will have a detrimental affect on service delivery. At the same time, four directors at the brigade have received between 7.2 per cent and 10.2 per cent pay rises when the firefighters salaries have actually been frozen since 2008.

When will these ‘public servants’ actually start to serve the public who pay their wages, instead of serving themselves?

I live on the other side of the Pennines – much the same here. PCSOs have been put on notice. We had quite a good one, but he saw the writing on the wall and pulled the pin. Our idiot council newspaper is still delivered and we still have Area Forums at which public attendance is usually dwarfed by council officers and cops. £500 went to a Sufi music appreciation group. I suspect its members would have as much idea on where to cut as PWC.